Basically invent barrel-aged cocktails? Been there, done that. Get everyone into bottled, carbonated cocktails? Old news. Now, Jeffrey Morgenthaler is all about reviving questionable ’80s cocktails. His Amaretto Sours are downright desirable, which is a grand feat because those things never are.

And five other ideas from pro bartenders for sweat-free entertaining You won’t find a simpler drink in the world than pouring three bottles into a bowl for a large-batch Negroni Sbagliato—a combination of Campari, sweet vermouth, and prosecco (which takes the place of the traditional gin). Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager of Clyde Common in Portland, is known for | Read More

They simply didn’t know better. In the 1970s and 1980s – the height of careless bars churning out much-maligned cocktails – imbibers absentmindedly sipped the sweet sludge they were served and asked no questions about the unbalances concoctions filling their glasses. In the midst of today’s classic-cocktail renaissance, such a shoddy approach to drink-slinging just | Read More

Clyde CommonDrink: Bourbon RenewalBartender: Jeffrey Morgenthaler “It’s been a staple of mine for nearly fifteen years, and was one of the first drinks I ever created. There isn’t much to say about it, other than the fact that it’s merely a Whiskey Sour with the sweet component split between simple syrup and crème de cassis. I love cassis | Read More

Bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s favorite spot to stand while building cocktails at Clyde Common in Portland’s Ace Hotel is in front of the tavern’s large window. One wonders if—as he looks out onto Stark Street contemplatively stirring a cocktail—he’s dreaming up the next big thing. For those unfamiliar with Morgenthaler, he’s the man responsible for whipping the bar | Read More

There are bars. Then there are Bars. And when yours has been named “The Best Bar in World” for three consecutive years, you know that your watering hole is the latter: more elevated in nature and in a league of its own—and that the pressure is on to create extraordinary cocktails with (mindblowing) twists. But for Alex Kratena—head bartender | Read More

Good cocktails? We’ve had a few. But what really make a standout bar shine? The people doing the shaking, stirring, and entertaining. Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Clyde Common, Portland, OR He was one of the first to start tinkering with homemade syrups, bitters, and other ingredients that now elevate bar programs across the country. That bottled Negroni | Read More

There’s no shame in a fruity cocktail, says Portland barman Jeffrey Morgenthaler (he loves them) “When I first started seeing this girl recently, I confused the shit out of her. At dinner one night, I ordered rosé. When we went out for drinks, I got a strawberry daiquiri.” “I can’t believe this,” she said. “Other | Read More

A lot of work goes into building a proper cocktail – from juicing, garnishing, carbonating, stirring, and shaking to choosing to correct ice for proper chilling and dilution of a drink. Jeffrey Morgenthaler recognizes the importance of technique behind the bar. He is currently bar manager at Portland’s beloved Clyde Common. His latest, The Bar Book: Elements of | Read More

Pépé Le Moko, Portland, OR Descend into this subterranean speakeasy and you’ll feel like you’ve entered a glamorous railway dining car (minus the windows). By now famous for his classic cocktails and Barrel-aged Negronis at Clyde Common in the Ace Hotel around the corner, Jeffrey Morgenthaler pays homage to the ’80s with drinks you probably haven’t seen on a | Read More

The legendary Clyde Common bartender reveals his slow rise to cocktail stardom (by way of dive bars and white collar ambitions). With his barrel-aged negronis, bottled café cocktails, and a chatty blog, Portland’s best-known bartender has made his mark on the global cocktail scene—training bartenders from Paris to Helsinki and landing a 2014 James Beard | Read More

Bottled cocktails may seem a recent novelty, but bartenders have been throwing spirits in a bottle since Jerry Thomas’s day. Kenzi Wilbur breaks down the DIY art of the to-go cocktail. … This is precisely why respected bars like Clyde Common have brought the bottled cocktail back. “We have certain lines of defense to get | Read More

Walking into a bar and ordering a bottled cocktail can feel incongruous to the natural order of things. It doesn’t let you lean seductively over the bar and say scotch, neat. And it doesn’t allow for watching a cast of bartenders perform something like well-rehearsed play—there’s no shaking, no stirring, no straining. You go to a bar | Read More

Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean every cocktail from now until April has to be mulled or toddied. Booze is inherently bone warming, and one can only drink so many possets before sugar ossification creeps in. Behold, five drinks that make us want to slip into some long underwear. What does that mean? It means Perfect Manhattans—drier and | Read More

The top cocktail lounges, retooled salons, and neo-speakeasies that are raising the bar on how we drink. In this era of hand-carved ice, house-made bitters, and $50 shots of microbatch bourbon, it’s hard to get anything approaching a bad drink. We’re thrilled about that, but the downside of the cocktail revolution is too many cookie-cutter | Read More